


odd rhythms

by wingsofadreamer



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Coffee Shops, M/M, mika almost gets beat up but that's it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 06:26:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19806571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingsofadreamer/pseuds/wingsofadreamer
Summary: Mika's found himself on an oddly perfect planet that claims to be "the future of the universe." He thinks it's too good to be true.Of course, he's correct.(Entry for Round 1 of the Enstars Shipping Olympics 2019!)





	odd rhythms

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my entry for the first round of the enstars shipping olympics, following the prompt of "discovery!"
> 
> make sure to check out team midomika's and everyone else's entries on dreamwidth, everyone truly worked hard on this round and produced amazing results!
> 
> thank you to my team members for being wonderful, and i'm looking forward to the next few rounds!

It’s easy for Mika to miss the many people passing by him on the sidewalk as he looks up in wonder at the sea of projected screens displaying advertisements, announcements, and other pieces of information. Everything in the strange planet he had landed on seemed so… new and beautiful and everything Mika’s home planet wasn’t. He was lost, his spacecraft out of gas and left behind somewhere in the sea of skyscrapers and buildings, and yet somehow he’d managed to land on a place that was, quite literally, called Utopia. The city’s name was plastered and displayed everywhere Mika looked, and it made him wonder if he was just dreaming, and in reality he’d crashed his ship on some deserted island and had been knocked unconscious.

As he wandered about, he came across a small informational ad with a smiling figure. Its eyes shone in a somewhat uniform manner.  _ “Here in Utopia, the entire world and more is in your hands! See the future today with our new, state-of-the-art androids! Our latest models are indistinguishable from humans, right down to the life in their eyes!”  _ The android model in the ad blinked and smiled. There was a light in his eyes that seemed extremely similar to an old friend of his. It was so human that he nearly forgot that it was an advertisement display for androids. Mika bit his lip and kept walking, faster this time, hoping to find a place where he could camp out and figure out the best way to leave the planet before he got any more tempted to stay. 

There was no way a place like “Utopia” really existed, after all.

Mika was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when he collided with something solid, sending him tumbling to the ground in a daze. The person he had bumped into stops, and Mika can already sense the scariest aura as he holds his head and slowly looks up, not stopping until his eyes land on a menacing glare. He can only mumble a quiet apology before he’s lifted off the ground by the collar of his shirt.

“Hey, hey now. These streets aren’t fit fer small fry foreigners like ya!” Mika lets out a squeak and claws at the hand, but the tall man has an iron grip and a cold stare. “Maybe I can show ya what Utopia’s really like,” the man lifts his other fist. “Give ya a little reminder before ya scurry off somewhere y’ _ really  _ don’t wanna be.” Mika frantically looks around for anyone he can call out to for help, but while he had been lost in his thoughts he must have turned onto an empty street, because there was no one within earshot. He sighed, wondering how he could have been caught so off guard on a planet where everything was suspiciously perfect. He knew he shouldn’t have had his hopes up.

As he continued to struggle, he braced for the impact of what he expected to be a punch to his face, but a hand placed on the man’s shoulder made him turn around with a grunt. “Hey, don’tcha see I’m getti-”

“I wouldn’t hurt him if I were you,” a younger looking man speaks, not wanting the other to finish. He removes his hand from his shoulder and places it on his hip, sighing. “Troublesome people like you shouldn’t be roaming the streets, honestly.”

The man loosens his grip on Mika’s shirt. “No way… That line… T-That’s…” His grip goes slack, his hand trembling. It’s enough to break free out of the man’s grasp and take several steps back. The man is frozen in place, still staring at the newcomer, Mika’s savior. He’s frozen for a few more seconds, until the other calmly steps forward, and he takes off, sprinting across the street and down the sidewalk into an alley. Mika’s head snaps to the person who had saved him, who was now walking toward him and sighing, a hand rubbing the back of his neck nonchalantly.

“Sorry about him. There are a lot of people on Utopia who don’t take too well to foreigners,” he says, gaze cast downwards. “I mean, you  _ are _ a foreigner, right?” Mika gulps and nods. Now that his rescuer was right in front of him, it was easy to get a better look at him. He had brown messy hair that looked like it hadn’t been combed in a day, and a dark green leather jacket was pulled over a black shirt, with some dark grey skinny jeans and black combat boots to complete the look. The last and most noticeable feature of his that Mika took note of was his blazing blue eyes, bright like the sky on a normal day back on his home planet. Mika didn’t exactly sense any threatening aura coming from him, but he couldn’t be too sure of anything on this planet.

“Well, I won’t hurt you, so don’t worry. Though, there are a  _ lot  _ of people who will want to, which is a little too annoying for my tastes… Do you mind coming with me?” Mika looks at him with a suspecting stare. The other stares at Mika before sighing once again and running a hand through his hair. “Um… Midori Takamine. That’s my name. You don’t have to trust me, but can you  _ please _ come with me? I can help you get around this place, it’s easy to get lost and I already know you don’t have a map.”

Damn, he was right. It wasn’t like he was going to get anywhere by himself, much less after that encounter with the man who had almost punched him, so he decided to trust Midori for now. “Okay,” he finally spoke. Midori nods, silently thanking him. “Just follow me, and try to stay close. I know somewhere we can go so we can, um, discuss… What to do and where to go.” He begins walking in the direction where he had likely come from, back onto the busy streets. Mika stays close by, guard still up in case the taller tries anything. He wouldn’t be caught off guard a second time, Mika would make sure of that.

As they continue to walk for what seemed like an endless amount of blocks, Mika notices that Midori’s pace never changes. No one seems to be bothering them, either. Passerbys give Midori looks that Mika can’t seem to read, and most even steer clear of the brunette’s path. Mika brushes it off as a normal street attitude and continues forth, looking down at the ground and Midori’s unchanging pace.

Mika nearly bumps into Midori when he stops suddenly. The other grabs Mika’s hand and pulls him in his direction in the most gentle manner possible, pushing open the door. The scent of coffee immediately hits Mika, and he almost relaxes at such a familiar scent, until he sees that like everything else in Utopia, it is sleek, high-tech, and the fanciest thing Mika has ever seen. The two walk over to a small table lined with a glowing blue, two chairs with no legs seated on either side. The two take a seat, Mika looking around with an expression that was a mix of wonder and confusion.

Midori lets out yet another sigh as he settles into his chair, staring at the glowing blue lining the table. “You… must not be from around here.” Mika scoffs. “That’s pretty obvious, ain’t it?” Midori shakes his head. “I mean, you’re not from Utopia, obviously… But you don’t look like you’re from any other neighboring planets either. All of our neighbors are directly supported by Utopia, so they have the same kind of technology we do.”

Mika wills himself to look at Midori, whose gaze was still trained on the table. Now having an even closer look at his face, he could tell that the other had attractive features, his bangs falling over his head in a perfectly messy way, observing how his hand was rested on the right side of his face, his fingers tapping in a perfect, unchanging rhythm. Yet again, the most notable of all of his features were his blazing blue eyes; they were also perfect, shining as though the rest of his demeanor didn’t portray an exhausted, weary young adult who had just stopped Mika from getting beat up.

The conclusion Mika came to was that Midori was an incredibly attractive, if not perfect person in terms of appearance.  _ “The leather jacket definitely adds ta it,”  _ he thinks to himself. Mika quite likes leather jackets, as they were often sold and worn back on his home planet. In a very vague manner, Midori himself reminded him of home, which only added to the looming homesickness within Mika’s heart.

“Um… So, is there any way ya can get me off of Utopia?” Mika asked after focusing his gaze back on the glowing blue tabletop. Midori stopped tapping his cheek and looked at him with a blank stare before sighing.  _ “This guy definitely sighs a lot,” _ Mika says to himself in his mind. 

“We haven’t even ordered yet. Do you want your coffee hot or cold?” Midori slides his finger along the edge of the table, tracing the glowing blue before a screen appears, displaying the coffee shop’s menu. Mika blinks, partly because he couldn’t stare at Midori’s face and partly because yet another display of futuristic technology that he didn’t understand. He reaches out to touch the screen, but his hand merely phases through it, making him blink slowly before retracting his hand.

“Uh… Iced coffee.” There was no use pondering on it. Midori nods and selects two iced coffees, before making the screen disappear. While they wait for their drinks, Mika takes a moment to open and close the menu, staring in wonder as he slides his finger left and right against the glowing blue edges of the table. Midori continues his rhythmic tapping against the table. 

Not even 5 minutes later (Mika had been counting, leaving himself in silence for too long wasn’t too good for him) a cube flew towards them, holding out a tray containing two drinks. The two grab their drinks, and Midori takes a small sip before gently setting it down. “Before we discuss how to get out of here, there’s something you should know.” Mika tilts his head at him questioningly as he downs half of his iced coffee.

“I’m an android.”

**Author's Note:**

> as always, my twitter is @ gaiaxylibrary!


End file.
